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GREEN SCANNING:

First steps towards green large format scanners

Pollution, large format scanners, and YOU!

Colortrac, the UK wide format colour scanner manufacturer, recently reported that its Chinese subsidiary, Colortrac Imaging Systems (SuZhou) who build the SmartLF large format scanner main assemblies, has been awarded an ISO 14001 certificate. This is a voluntary Environmental Management System which requires constant commitment to environment planning and improvement.

Scanners4CAD applauds all efforts by large format scanner manufacturers to lessen their impact on the environment. We believe that Colortrac Imaging Systems (SuZhou) is now the third wide format scanner manufacturer to receive ISO 14001 certification. The first was Xerox, followed by Contex / Vidar in 2006.

Colortrac UK who make the SmartLF large format bodies and do the final assembly in St Ives, England, do not yet have ISO 14001 accreditation themselves. At present only the SmartLF Gx digital camera units and all-wheel drives in Colortrac wide format CCD scanners are built to ISO 14001 standards. However, Colortrac have stated their commitment to achieving ISO 9000, 14001 and 20000 within 18 months in their UK head office and factory. Indeed, they have now employed a qualified engineer to oversee this.

Colortrac's announcement raises some interesting questions. What does "green scanning" mean, exactly? What is ISO 14001, Energy Star, Energy Saver, RoSH and WEEE? What about the distribution carbon trail? What can be done to lessen scanning's impact on the environment? Most importantly, are the large format scanner manufacturers doing enough to ensure users get a clean, green product?

Do CAD users care about green large format scanning?
What does "green scanning" mean, exactly?
What is ISO 14001?
What is Energy Star compliance?
The RoHS Directive
The WEEE Directive
Large format scanning's carbon trail
What makes an environmentally friendly large format scanner?

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